>The Left is anti-capitalist, opposed to mere reformism (but
>not necessarily reforms), against racism/sexism/homophobia, committed to
>activism (well, not the cultural studies folks, but I'll make an
>allowance and call them "left" too).
First of all, that's who YOU think the left is or would like it to be. My experiences as an (occasionally effective) agitator do not attest that the left is what you claim it to be, at least not consistenly. Second, with the exception of your vague comment about the left being "committed to activism," your defenition does not say anything about what the "left" is for. That's because the "left" has a multiplicity of contradictory tendencies that don't easily lend themselves to a unifying vison, a very serious problem if one is trying to build a disciplined and sustainable opposition. Third, your defenition is a bit baroque: why make an allowance for the cultural studies people? In making such an allowance, you (thank you very much) prove my second point.
>The notion of abandoning the term "left" is silly.
Well, insight is a subjective matter but I do not consider the insight that I gained into my "leftism" as a result of ceasing to identify as a leftist very "silly" at all. (Hmmm. Is that a bit of lefty arrogance I detect? Maybe you should ASK me why my decision was so important to me instead of dimsmissing it). My eyes were opened in some subtle but wonderful ways, no small thing in a world where it is sometimes difficult for one to know when one is being brainwashed and, in turn, brainwashing others.
>The only people who are bothered by the "right" are the
>liberal interest groups that somehow get my name from The Nation's
>mailing list, and liberals do not equal the left
No, that is not true and I'm the proof (more left arrogance??). You are, of course, quite correct about those liberal interest groups but that ain't where I'm coming from. Simply put, I'm an anti-capitalist who believes that leftism is a fuzzy concept which, in some important ways, ULTIMATELY does a disserve to efforts to build and sustain a visionary, disciplined, anti-capitalist opposition. To be clear, I am not an "anti-leftist." Much of value has been learned from the "success" and "mistakes" of the left over the years. Now, instead of trying to figure out how to do the impossible--that is, reinvigorate the left, whatever that is--it's time to let it go and a build a more formidable opposition to capital, patriarchy, whiteism, and heterocentrism.
Here are some questions:
What's the difference, if any, between a "leftist" and a "progressive?" Between, if any, a "Marxist" and a "progressive?" Between, if any, a Marxist (of any variant) and a "leftist? Between, if any, being "left of center" and a "leftist?" Is a homophobic, mysoginistic, anti-capitalist, Black nationalist a "leftist?"
You ignored my thoughts about left demogoguery. Any reason?